Even the Songbird has Claws
by Ali Nowac
Summary: When Ezio Auditore is terribly wounded, a little songbird decides to take up the blade and her brother's place in the centuries old war between the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order.


**A/N: I've always wanted to write something like this, so I had started it a while ago, but never finished it. I finally have and I apologize if it's a little rushed feeling, I'm tired and should really be asleep. I do not own these characters. Please read and review and check out other things I've written! **

**_Even the Songbird has Claws_**

The Rosa in Fiore was abuzz with activity when the doors opened. Claudia Auditore looked up from where she'd been looking through some papers. Poised by the doorway was her brother, looking dark and lonesome in that costume of his. She forced herself to smile, advancing towards him. "Welcome to the Rosa in Fiore; as you can see, the most popular brothel in Roma." Their eyes met and his frame wobbled. She rushed to him as his legs buckled, struggling to keep him upwards. "Ezio!?"

His entire side was drenched in his blood, some leaking from his lips as he coughed. She screamed for help, holding him in her arms as his head fell backwards and his body went limp. La Volpe was beside her in moments as he'd been to see what they'd done with the brothel, helping to get Ezio up. "We'll get him upstairs," he said, and Claudia proceeded to help him best she could, ignoring the chatter of the girls and the presence of their mother beside her.

They laid Ezio down on one of the beds and La Volpe stripped the costume off of Claudia's brother. Beneath he wore a plain white tunic, now stained red with his blood. He grabbed a towel and threw it to Claudia. "Keep pressure on it," he commanded, turning and running out, his cape twirling about after him.

Claudia did as she was told, pressing the towel into her brother's wound, her throat constricting. The cloth was red in moments. On the other side of the bed, Maria was gazing down at her only living son, tears in her eyes. She lowered herself onto the bed, placing her palm against her son's cheek. She murmured softly to him, but Claudia couldn't hear what she was saying. It was then that La Volpe raced back in, followed by a doctor, who began muttering to himself in Italian when he saw the wound.

He brushed aside both Claudia and La Volpe, grabbing for his tools. "Had you called any later," he mused, "there would have no hope."

"Can you help him?" asked Claudia, her voice rising a few octaves in fear.

The doctor sent her a look. "Perhaps," he replied, making a shooing motion as he backed up out the door, shutting it in her face. She sat on the chair opposite the door for the longest time. Her mother had paced for a long while before La Volpe forced her into her room and gave her a tonic from the doctor to help her sleep. When at last the doctor stepped out the room with the words, 'I have done what I can', Claudia slipped inside and took up vigil in the chair beside her brother's bed.

She sat for a long time, just watching the rise and fall of his chest, and carefully placing cold washrags on his forehead when a sweat broke out across his skin. She bit at her lip and glanced down at her hands. She fingered the Assassin symbol pendant to prove she was an ally of their Brotherhood. She glanced back up at her brother and then down at the symbol.

She slid the chain around her neck and placed it beside Ezio's bed. She rose from the chair and turned towards his robes. Her's were still being stitched to fit her figure. She wet her lips and stepped over and glanced back at her sleeping brother. They were around the same height…

Claudia Auditore cinched the belt and fixed the cuffs. She tried the hidden blade, almost expecting herself to flinch as it sprung free with a soft _shing!_ She glanced back, as though afraid Ezio would wake at the slightest noise. She took a breath and went to his side, touching his shoulder. "You're not the only one who can avenge our family, brother…" She paused and took a deep breath, cleansing her mind before flipping up the hood and leaping out the window and into the streets.


End file.
